


Frostbitten

by Kuuttituutti



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: (i guess), Angst, Angus is a dragon, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Silver Dragon Angus, happens few years after the hunger, there is some violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-11
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-02-13 15:27:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 16,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12986979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kuuttituutti/pseuds/Kuuttituutti
Summary: Angus had promised himself that he would never tell anyone his secret. He had already kept it to himself for so long. But one night changed his mind.He didn't mean to do it. It was an instinct. Taako was in danger. He needed to protect him.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've been wanting to write something with Dragon Angus for so long, and I finally did it. I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as possible. Hope you enjoy!

Angus opened his eyes. He had a weird taste in mouth and his sight was foggy. His glasses were on the ground, cracked badly. Ango reached for his glasses. His whole body hurt. He tried to stand up, but his knees were too weak. Only thing he could feel was cold. Cold and fear.

Finally, when his legs were feeling strong enough, he stood up, leaning to the wall of the alleyway. He breathed heavily and tried to make sense of everything. He looked around. The ground was covered in thin, clear ice and snow. Some footprints were left on the snow, but Angus brushed them off, thinking that they might be his. A single streetlight lighted the alleyway with it’s yellow glow. In it’s light, Angus could see two figures. One, laying on the ground and one leaned over the other figure, with a pointy dagger in their hand.

Angus approached two figures carefully. The ice cracked below his feet as he took careful, silent steps. Neither of the figures seemed to even notice him.

”Hello…sirs?” Angus whispered quietly. No answer. Then he saw it. The light shimmered on the skin of the human man leaning over the other. He was completely frozen solid. Everything from his face, to his raised dagger was covered in ice. His face was frozen with an angry smile. Angus was horrified. But even more of a shock was when he recognized the other figure. On the ground laid Taako. Angus grabbed him by his sleeves and quickly dragged him away from the frozen man, leaving a small trail of blood behind him. If he was not scared before, now he surely was.

 

”Taako! Taako wake up!” Ango cried and tried to wake Taako up. Taako’s heart was beating and small cloud of fog raised from his open mouth. Small tear of relief rolled of Ango’s eye. He was still alive, but in a really bad shape. Taako was badly beaten up. His brow and nose were bleeding and breathing seemed hard for him. A small stream of blood also leaked from his mouth. And the worst thing, he didn’t seem to wake up. Angus reached for his stone of farspeech and cried out panicking:

”Please sirs! Any one. Please! Come here quickly! Taako is badly hurt and and there is this frozen guy and oh god there is blood everywhere please help us!”

For a second he could hear nothing but static. He started to cry even harder, fearing that no one had heard his message. He was about to send another message, but he was cut off by Magnus’s voice.

”Ango! Where are you?! Me and Merle are coming try to stay calm!”

Angus ran to the end of the alley, where he saw a small sign. He repeated what signed said and felt a small moment of happiness when Merle shouted that he knew where they were. Magnus tried to calm Ango down, reassuring him that they would be there in five minutes. Angus ran back to Taako, trying to keep him warm. The bleeding had not stopped, even though he had cast mending on him a couple of times and tried to bandage his wounds with clothing strips he had torn from his jacket.

Warm tears rolled of the small boys eyes as he still tried to remember what had happened. He and Taako had gone shopping and decided to take a shortcut through the alley when someone had followed them. Then he could only remember fear he felt as someone had hold him down as Taako was screaming about ”keeping the boy out of this”. He had tried to cast some sort of spell, but the beaters had stepped on his wand. The bad guys had shouted something about some debt, that was all that Angus could remember. Then he remembered how he was crying as he watched Taako being beaten up as he laid defenceless on the ground. After that Angus could only remember screaming at the top of his lungs and then nothing but the freezing coldness.

”Angus!” Magnus shouted. Ango ran faster than he had ever ran. Magnus hugged the scared boy tightly, and Merle ran straight to Taako, and started to read a spell from his X-treem Teen Bible, with a worried look on his face. Magnus held Ango tightly and carried him to their wagon. The small boy was freezing from his head to toes, and Magnus ended up wrapping Ango in a big blanket and made him promise to stay where he was. Ango nodded, trying to look brave. But after the fighter had ran back to his friends, Angus cried his eyes out again, confused and afraid.

Magnus rushed back to Merle and Taako, slipping on the ice. Taako’s wounds were starting to get stiched up, as the powerful cleric still mumbled the last verses of his spell. Taako coughed up some blood, but other than that, he started to look okay.

”He is going to be fine, but now he needs a long rest. It’s best if we don’t try to wake him up” Merle explained as Magnus lifted the beaten wizard to his arms. He looked at Merle with a serious face.

”Hey Merle?”

”What?” Merle answered, trying to wipe the blood from his hand to the white snow.

”Let’s not talk about this tonight. Angus is really freaked out. It’s best if we let both of them rest for now” Magnus said concerned, as he look at the ice statue standing in front of them. Merle nodded and they both started to walk towards the wagon, leaving behind scene of ice and blood.


	2. A Bedtime story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After arriving to Magnus's house, Angus tries desperately to get some sleep. Magnus tries his best to help his guests to get some rest.

The room was silent. Only thing he could hear were his own deep breathes, as he tried to keep himself calm. Angus couldn’t sleep. He was still shocked of what had happened and his worry for Taako grew every moment. Magnus had given his bedroom to Angus this night and had made beds for him and Merle in his living room. Taako was sleeping in their guestroom. During their way back Magnus’s home, Taako had once woken up, but fell asleep pretty fast again. Magnus and Merle had agreed to take turns watching him in the night. 

He just stared at a ceiling, trying to think something happy. But only one thing was clear in his mind. That he had given himself away,and in a process, killed someone. He tried to think rationally. If he had not done it, both him and Taako would now be dead. And the guy he had frozen was certainly a bad guy, right? But he was more worried about the other people that had been there. Someone had held him down, and Angus remembered that someone was shouting bad things about Taako as the other had beaten him up. But he was still a good person? And Taako was alright and he probably wouldn’t even remember seeing him transforming in pure rage or… A loud knock was heard from the front door. Angus sat up in his bed and sneaked to the bedroom door. He opened it as silently as he could. He saw Magnus walking over to the door as the knocking would not end.

”Where is he?!” Kravitz shouted as soon as Magnus opened the door. Magnus tried to calm him down as he already stormed to the house, dropping feathers as he walked fast towards the guestrooms door.  
” Wait Kravitz! We need to let him sleep! Merle is right there right now burning a hecking level 5 spell slot keeping him alive” Magnus shouted as Kravitz was about to rush in to the guestroom. Kravitz stopped, looking at Magnus with a plea in his eyes.  
”Please I need to see him” Kravitz pleeded with a crack in his voice.  
”Uncle Krav?” Angus asked quietly. Kravitz turned his head towards the small boy. Angus had never seen Kravitz cry. Kravitz ran and hugged the boy tightly, so tightly it almost hurt.  
”Thank the gods you are safe” Ango could hear Kravitz whisper. Magnus placed his hand on Kravitz’s shoulder.  
”Come to kitchen. I’m sure you can see him soon” Magnus said with a calming voice, leading the group to the kitchen.  
”Shouldn’t you try to get some sleep Ango?” Magnus asked as the boy joined him and Kravitz around the table in the living room.  
”I couldn’t sleep” Angus answered, looking at the fireplace. Magnus smiled as he added some marshmallows in to hot chocolates he was making, bringing the four mugs to the table on a wooden tray.  
” It’s okay Ango. Neither can I” he laughed warmly. Kravitz tried to decline the offer but Magnus pretty much slammed the mug in to his hands. Kravitz smiled weakly.  
”Everything is going to be fine. Now drink up you two. It’ll make you feel better” Magnus said and added little sprinkles to his own hot chocolate, before taking a sip.  
Angus just enjoyed the war,th that the mug emitted. His cold hands were starting to get warm again and he could feel the warmth in his guts as he drank the chocolate. After a while the silence was broke by Merle who suddenly opened the guestroom’s door. Kravitz stood up rapidly, spilling some of his drink to the table.  
”You can go”, he answered to Kravitz’s pleading gaze. The tall man ran to the door, but hesitated to step in. Angus followed him as he finally stepped in to the dark room. 

Taako laid on the bed, looking peaceful. He was still badly bruised, but most of his wounds where almost completely stitched. Karvitz sat to the edge of the bed. He looked at his bruised boyfriend and Angus could see the that he was near crying again. To be honest, he also felt a sigh of relief escape from his lips as he saw that Taako was getting better. Kravitz held Taako’s hand carefully and gave it a little kiss. Angus decided that it would be better for him to let Kravitz and Taako be alone. As Agnus made his way back to the living room, Magnus walked quietly in to the room. He smiled and nodded at Angus as he walked towards Kravitz.  
” Hey, do you want me to make you a bed here? You could sleep here, I don’t think Taako would mind. And if something happens, you can get me and Merle, okay?” Magnus asked gently, already reaching for the blanket from the top of the self.  
” That sounds good” Kravitz answered smiling, still holding Taako’s hand. Angus closed the door behind him.  
Merle laid on the sofa where Magnus had made him a bed. He was yawning loudly and slowly falling asleep. Angus too started to finally feel tired. He yawned and stretched his back.  
”Good night Merle” he whispered.  
”Good night kid. See you in the morning” answered the cleric. Angus smiled and made his way back to his bed. 

He snuggled in the blankets and tried to make himself comfortable. But still, as soon as the silence rained in the candle-lit room, the bad thoughts came back. He tried to fight back. He thought happy thoughts, he tried to remember the feeling when they had won the hunger, the amazing spells Taako had taught him and how he always complimented him after he learned a new one. But somehow, the ice statue always appeared. Out of nowhere he could see the frozen grin and the shining dagger. Angus almost jumped out of the bed as he heard small knocks and the creaking door.  
”Ango?” Magnus whispered peaking inside the room.  
”What is it Magnus?” he answered, laying back down to the bed.  
”Do you think a bedtime story would help you get some sleep?” Angus smiled and nodded.  
”I think it would”  
”Great!” Magnus said, smiling kindly as he sat next to Angus. Angus could hear from his voice that he was getting tired too. Angus leaned his head on Magnus’s arm as he started to read the story. It was about a great knight who wanted to save his beloved prince. The knight rode day and night on his white horse, until he finally reached the castle where his beloved was held captivate. Now only thing that stood between him and his beloved prince. A terrifying dragon. As Magnus continued reading Angus started to feel more and more uneasy. Magnus noticed that and stopped mid sentence.  
”What’s wrong?” he asked.  
”Nothing. It’s just… could we read something with no horrifying monsters, please” Angus answered embarrassed.  
”Oh okay, no problems” Magnus said, not asking further question, as he looked for another story in his big book. Finally he found a one with no monsters and a happy ending. The ending didn’t matter for Angus though, since he finally fell asleep, half-way through the story of a one brave dog named Johann.


	3. A good morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys have a pleasant morning as everything seems to be okay again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter has some more Taakitz fluff, and is not as angst heavy as the first chapters.

Kravitz woke up when something fell on him. The morning sun shined through the green curtains in the room. In it’s light Kravitz could see Taako. He had rolled off the bed and landed on him. Now the elf was awake and looked at his boyfriend in confusion.

”Why the fuck are you on the floor?” Taako murmured, holding his head. He touched his face where the bandages were and looked around the room.  
” Are we at Magnus’s place? Krav why are we not at home?” Taako asked kind of amused. Kravitz didn’t bother to answer. He sat up and just hugged his boyfriend tightly.  
”Ow ow, Krav you are hurting me” Taako yelped in pain. Kravitz quickly let go and apologized. In his moment of relief he had forgotten the very reason for his worry. Taako’s wounds were almost completely healed, but some big bruises still colored his skin. Taako leaned his head on Kravitz’s lap. Kravitz gave his forehead a little kiss and stroked his hair gently. Taako looked at his bruised arms and asked curiously with a smirk on his face:  
”So, did we have a wild night?”

Magnus was still sleeping when Angus sneaked to kitchen. A big Scottish deer hound snoozed on the welcome mat and Merle’s snores echoed through the house. Angus could hear talking and giggling from the guestroom. After a pretty horrible night, it seemed that everything was alright again. As Angus made himself a sandwich the dog suddenly woke up and walked to Angus. The boy petted the dog who patiently waited him to drop something good on the floor.  
”Good morning Molly” Angus said and gave her a little piece of cheese. The dog wagged her tail as a thank you, as it’s ears suddenly perked up. The guestroom door opened and Kravitz and Taako stepped out, still giggling. Taako had a couple of blankets on his shoulders and he was leaning at Kravitz. His steps were a bit unsure, but other than that, he seemed to be okay.

Molly trotted over the two and licked Taako’s hand. He in turn scratched the back of her ear.  
”Are the others still sleeping?” Taako asked whispering. Angus nodded and took another bite at his sandwich. Taako joined him around the kitchen table, while Kravitz went to the kitchen to get himself some coffee.  
”Angus, I’m sorry” Taako whispered leaning over the table. Angus nodded and smiled.  
”No, worries. Everything is okay now” Angus said calmly. Taako sneezed loudly and Merle grunted on the couch.  
”No but like there were so many things I could have done, like cast protection or something. Taking that shortcut was a mistake, and I hope you can forgive me” Taako continued keeping his voice down. Angus looked at him worried. This wasn’t Taako-like at all.  
”Of course I forgive you. It was not your fault” Angus reassured the elf. Taako coughed violently and Merle raised his head from the pillow.

”Who is dying? What time is it?” the dwarf murmured and sat up trying reach for his eyepatch, which had fallen on the floor.  
”Nobody is dying and it’s about twelwe” Kravitz answered, as he joined Ango and Taako holding a coffee cup.  
” Is he awake?” Merle asked, putting his eyepatch on it’s place.  
” If you are talking about me, old man then yeah” Taako laughed. Now Magnus also raised his head. Molly rushed to him, liking his face. Magnus giggled and opened his eyes.  
”Good morning everybody”, Magnus yawned and petted the deerhound gently. Molly barked a couple of times demanding more pets. Magnus ruffled it’s head and stood up and stretched his back.  
”So how are you feeling Taako?” Magnus yawned and slammed his hand on Taako’s shoulder. Taako flinched and started to cough again. 

”Well, taking into consideration that I was beaten up to unconsciousness, I’m surprised that only everything hurts” Taako answered when he finally stopped coughing and raised his hand for a thumbs up. Angus had now already eaten his sandwich and was now just looking at everyone around the table. Merle had now joined them as Magnus had gone to pour himself and Merle a coffee. They all looked pretty tired, but some-what happy.

”So Taako, just you know, I burned a pretty many spellslots on you last night so…” Merle mumbled in to his coffee cup as he took a long sip.  
”Yeah yeah, next time you get beaten up by some jerks I promise to burn at least one spellslot on you. And also, is Pan sick or something? I don’t remember having this bad of a cold yesterday” Taako answered smirking again.  
”I honestly don’t know. Maybe one of those jerks who put some sort of sneeze spell on you” Merle laughed as a response. Taako giggled and so did Magnus. Angus just stared at his now empty plate, as he felt his stomach turning.  
”Talking about those jerks, who were they?” Kravitz asked.  
” You know, just that. Jerks” Taako answered quietly looking away from him. Angus simply looked down at his feet.  
”I might have used many of my spell slots on you, but I can still cast Zone of Truth you know?” Merle stated. Taako just stared at him coldly.

Angus was now panicking. If Merle would use that spell, he would have to just keep his mouth shut. Simple as that. But what if they decided questioned him? They probably would. Could Taako just tell the truth without being pressured by Merle’s spell. What could he do, they would all find out…

Angus’s train of thought was cut of by a sharp bark. Molly now held a pink leash on her mouth and wagged her tail demanding attention.  
”Oh, I guess somebody wants to go for a run” Magnus laughed.  
Before Magnus could reach for his shirt, Ango shouted:  
”I can go with her!”  
Magnus stared at the boy for a moment, but shrugged his shoulders agreeing and threw the end of the leash to Angus. The boy quickly put on his shoes and jacket and stepped outside.  
” She can be a bit energetic in the mornings, if you want, you can let her run on her own for a bit on the field. She won’t go far” the man winked and Angus answered with a nod.  
As soon as he was outside, he just started running as the big dog followed him. If zone of truth was casted, he wanted to be as far away from it as possible.


	4. Catch!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angus takes a break and goes to the field to play with Molly. The energetic dog will be the first who learns the secret of Angus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want some tunes to listen to while reading this chapter, I recommend this song : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzljtlGj_lA, since that scene inspired a lot of this chapter.
> 
> There probably won't be that many chapters after this, maybe two or three.

Molly looked at Angus excited as they arrived at the corner of the field. Angus tried to catch his breath, but Molly kept tugging the leash. He could feel a couple sweatdrops on his forehead, but soon they were gone as Molly licked his face and jumped to have it’s paws on the boys shoulders. Surprised Angus fell to his back as the heavy dog pushed him down and in the process he let go of the leash. The dog however didn’t run away. As Angus sat up, the dog looked at him and whimpered a couple of times, wagging it’s tail eagerly.

” You can go!” Angus laughed. As soon as the words escaped the boy’s mouth, Molly sprinted away. Angus sat on the dry grass and looked at the dog jump and run around the field. It rolled over in the grass and tried to catch her tail. There were some small spots on the field were frost had formed overnight, but the morning sun had melted most of it. Winter would be here soon, and the thought of it made Angus happy. He had always enjoyed winter more than summer. Maybe it had something to do that his favorite book from the Caleb Cleaveland: Kid Cop had a wonderful wintry mystery. Or the fact that in the winter he had a good reason to stay at home and read. And also the fact he had spend so much of his life in Neverwinter made every winter he experienced special to him. Of course he knew the true reason he preferred winter more. He was more in his element in the cold. There was no better feeling than to fly among the snowy mountains and just to feel the cold air on his face, as he flew past snowstorms.

Molly’s loud bark woke Angus up from his daydreams. The dog held a long stick in it’s mouth and stared at Angus excited.

”You wanna play catch?” the boy asked. Molly wagged her tail faster as she dropped the stick to Angus’s feet. Angus quickly grabbed the stick and weighted it in his hands. Molly’s whole focus was now on the stick that Angus held above his head. Before the stick even left the young boys hands, the dog was already running for the direction he was going to throw the stick. Angus tried to throw the stick as far as he could. In a one big leap Molly caught the stick straight from the air and trotted again to the boy, demanding a another throw. This time Angus tried more to throw the stick higher, rather than farther. But again the dog caught the stick effortlessly from the air. Angus tried to trick the dog by faking to throw the stick, but in reality he kept it behind his back. He laughed as the dog looked around confused trying to hear where the stick had landed. Angus laughed and started to run away from the dog, waving the stick in his hand. When the dog noticed this, she quickly tried to run up to him.

 

Angus laughed as the dog grabbed the other end of the stick and was now pulling Angus, increasing her speed in every leap. For a while Angus tried to hold on to the stick and run along the dog. Soon though he noticed that the dog was going to win, no matter how fast he ran. So the did boy let go of his end and let Molly run away with the stick. He still tried to run along with her, but gave up when his lungs started to hurt. The dog run a couple of victory laps around the field, holding the stick proudly on her mouth. Angus sat down under one of the trees that framed the field and could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He laughed under his breath and just enjoyed the feeling of being out of breath. After running just one more lap, the grey dog trotted over Ango and sat next to him. Angus gently petted the panting dog's back.

”Good girl” he said gently as the dog laid her head on his lap. He started to pet the dogs rugged fur and let his mind wander again. Should he tell the other what had really happened, or could he come up with a good enough lie that the other would believe it? No, from the books he had read he knew that telling lies would only lead to misery. He had to tell them sooner or later. But how? Would he just march to the living room and announce it? No, that was a bad idea. Did everybody even need to know? What if he only told it to Taako? He deserves to know what really happened that night. He looked around the field. It was the perfect place to tell him. It was far enough from the village and a calm place, where hardly anyone went, unless the specifically needed to be there. But how would Taako react? How would he show him? It wouldn’t hurt to practice, would it? 

”Hey Molly, you are pretty good with keeping secrets, aren’t you?” Angus asked the dog who was now scratching her ear. The dog wagged it’s tail when her name was said, other than that, it didn’t really react.

” Do you want to see something cool?” Now the dog raised her head, probably waiting to get a treat. Angus just offered his empty hand. The confused dog slammed his paw to Angus’s hand, still waiting for her treat. Now the dog started to look at the human even more confused, when small, silvery scales started to appear in Ango’s right hand. He breathed calmly. He wanted to try how much he could actually control his transformation. For now, everything had gone just as he planned. His human hand was no completely covered on the silvery scales, and his palm started to look more and more like a dragon paw. The dog sniffed the scaly hand amused and whimpered a bit as she stood up. Angus stayed sitting down and just let the dog react to his transformation. The dog simply barked at it a couple of times, but didn’t really seem that scared.

” You see Molly, I’m actually a dragon” Angus whispered. It felt weird to say it out loud. Even if he only said it to merely one year old puppy. It felt kind of good. Angus wondered, could he show his true form to the curious dog who was now very interested in the silvery claws that Angus’s fingers had turned into. Suddenly the dog’s ears perked up, as she heard something.

” Angus! Molly!” the boy felt his stomach turn as he heard Magnus looking for them. Molly started to run towards the sound before the boy could even stood up. Angus quickly hid his hand on the pocket of his jacket, and just concentrated on making his had human again. Thank the god he had the long sleeved coat.

The boy walked calmly towards Magnus who was laying on the ground, as the dog washed his face with kisses. He was wearing a grey coat and his signature red scarf. 

”We were afraid that you had frozen to death, when you didn’t answer your stone, but it seems that you just had forgotten that at home”, Magnus laughed and stood up. Angus smiled:  
”I guess that Molly was in such a hurry, that I forgot”. The dog started to sprint again and Magnus tried to catch her leash. It was fun to watch this beefy man run around the field, trying to get his hands on the glittering pink leash that the dog dragged behind her. Angus quickly took his hand out of his pocket and to his relief, only few small metallic had scales remained. He smiled happily and joined the chase as the dog run past him.


	5. A Promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus and Angus make their way back home. Angus makes an important promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really want to thank my dear friend Fallu for helping me with this chapter. You should all go read their writings, they are supergood and such a lovely person. You can find their works here, or on their tumblr fallustoro.tumblr.com

"Gotcha!" Magnus laughed as he finally caught the running dog. He quickly grabbed the pink leash and smiled as the dog still wagged her tail furiously, asking what the next game was going to be. Magnus simply ruffled the dog’s fur and tried to catch his breath. Angus finally walked to them, out of breath as well.  
"Now I know how you keep yourself in such a good shape, sir", he laughed and dropped to his knees.  
"Yeah, Molly is a pretty great runner, aren't you?" Magnus compliment the dog, who had started to calm down. Molly gave Magnus a couple of kisses, before she started to wait to get going again. Magnus stood up from the dry ground, keeping the leash in his tight grip.  
"So, should we go back home? Others are probably waiting for us by now", Magnus asked, offering his hand for Angus. With Magnus's help the boy stood up and tried to wipe dust of his pants.  
"Yeah, that sounds good", Angus smiled. His feet hurt from all the running and the stress of yesterday, but he tried not to show it. The last thing he wanted was to make Magnus more worried. 

"Are you okay?" Magnus asked with concern in his voice, as he noticed that the boy had trouble keeping up with him and the dog. His steps were slow and the boy just looked tired.  
"It's probably nothing. I'm just tired from all the running with Molly", he answered quickly with a small smile on his face. But before he could even end his sentence, Magnus had already squatted down. He didn't care that Molly was tugging on her leash.  
"Hop on, I can carry you home", he smiled. Angus laughed. Well, the walking had started to hurt his feet, so he didn't see any reason to say no.  
"Are you sure it's okay?" Angus checked.  
"Yeah, you have nothing to worry about. And hey, you had a pretty rough day yesterday, it's okay to be tired", Magnus reassured.  
Soon they continued their journey, Molly leading the way, still having a lot of energy left, followed by Magnus, who carried the tired, but happy boy on his back. 

”So, what did Taako tell you?” Angus asked as they started to get closer. He figured it would be the best to know what Taako had told the others. If they decided to still ask some stuff from him, he didn't want his and Taako's stories to be too different. Magnus stayed quiet. He simply kept walking.  
"Did Merle burn a spell slot?" Angus continued still eagerly waiting for an answer. 

”I guess I have no other options. If I don’t tell you, you will just find another way, won’t you?” Magnus sighed. Angus was quiet for a while before he answered.

”Well, as you know, I’m the world's greatest detective", he laughed, trying to lighten the mood. Magnus chuckled a bit, before he started to explain the situation with a calm and serious tone:

”You know that adults don’t always make the best choices in life? Well, I guess you have spent enough time with the three of us that that’s clear to you. Well, especially Taako can sometimes make stupid decisions. You know him. Well this time, to put it simply, he made some dumb decisions. He angered a couple of people he shouldn’t have angered.”

”Who were they?” Angus asked curiously, trying to remember even the smallest things about the bad guys from yesterday. No matter how hard he tried, the only thing he could remember was that dammed ice statue.  
”You don’t have to worry about them. Krav and I are going to take care of them”, Magnus explained. The boy could feel Magnus's muscles tensing up. They continued walking for a while, before Angus opened his mouth again:  
”You are going to kill them, aren't you?” 

"If we have to, then yes. They are really bad people, Angus. Taako isn't the first guy they have tried to kill over some stupid money and he probably won't be the last. And unfortunately, not all of their victims have been saved by some weird ice magic like you two were. Kravitz and I are going to find them, and we will try to talk to them about this, maybe try to intimidate them to stop what they are doing. But if they attack us, or if we really must, I think we will have to fight", Magnus said, having kind of a sad tone in his voice. During his monolog he had completely stopped and had only continued walking, when Molly had yanked the leash powerfully, forcing Magnus to take a step to keep his balance.

"I understand, sir", Angus broke the silence. He didn't really have anything else to say. He had already taken care of one them. It was not like he had anything to say on the matter.  
"The worst thing is that if Taako had just told us that he was in trouble in the first place, this would have never happened." There was now a bit of anger in voice. He took a deep breath and continued with a calmer voice.  
"Promise me, Ango. Promise me that if you ever find yourself in a trouble like Taako, you tell us immediately. Okay? We can take care of it together. I don't want you to ever have to face troubles alone."

Angus tightened his grip on Magnus's shoulders and answered quietly:  
"I promise."


	6. Arguments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taako get's yelled at and Kravitz tries to comfort him. Barry helps Angus to see the world clearer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another Taakitz-heavy chapter.  
> A bit longer than the previous one, but that was a short one anyway.

” Thank you for choosing Magnus-express. We hope you had a nice journey with us and have a safe landing”, Magnus joked as Angus slided from his back to the ground. Angus laughed and thanked Magnus for carrying him. Magnus simply answered ”No problem kid”, and started to wipe Molly’s dirty paws from the mud before he would let the dog run back inside the house. Before Magnus even opened the door, Angus could hear shouting from the living room.  
” Are they still arguing?” Magnus muttered and stepped inside.  
”How could be so selfish? You got yourself almost fucking killed!” Lup’s voice echoed through the house. She was standing in front of Taako who still had couple of blankets wrapped around him. Kravitz was sitting next to Taako, holding his hand. Barry sat down next to Kravitz as Lup continued her rant.  
”Well what good would that have done?! You would have just yelled at me anyway!” Taako hissed and stood up. The blankets fell to the floor, revealing Taako’s bruised and bandaged arms.  
” Well then at least I would have known that oh yeah, somebody wants to kill my brother! And I could have taken care of them! And you would not have lead Angus in to danger. You could have gotten him killed! Do you realize that?” Lup shook her brother from the shoulders. Taako just stared blankly at her, sniffing his nose.  
For a moment the room was quiet, until a small voice said: ”Hello aunt Lup, hello uncle Barry. Lup turned quickly, letting go of Taako. She had not heard their entering.  
”Angus, I…”, Lup yelped startled, trying to smile to Angus. But as soon as Taako felt the grip of his sister let go, he ran straight to the guestroom, slamming the door behind him. 

”I think it would be best if we just let him rest” Kravitz said. Lup had already took a couple of steps towards the guestroom door, but had stopped as Kravitz had spoken.  
”I’ll talk to him later, I think he as heard enough of this for now” Kravitz continued. Lup sighed deeply and walked back to the sofa, sitting down on the place Taako had sat. All three reapers were now sitting down on the sofa.  
Magnus gave Molly permission to go as her paws were finally clean. The deer hound trotted over to Lup, begging for pets. She scratched the dog behind the ear and smiled. Angus could see that she was frustrated. Barry looked worried as well and well, Kravitz looked as tired as he had looked before Angus had left. But the smile from the morning was gone. Angus took a deep breath and joined the others in the living room. Awkward silence in the room was only broken by loud coughs from the guestroom. 

”So, Barry and Lup. I hope that you understand the situation. I need to take of Taako now. Me and Magnus will take care of those bastards and Merle will try to look cure for the cold. From what we know now, it’s an aftereffect of some sort of spell” Kravitz explained the situation, leaning back on the sofa, closing his eyes.  
”We don’t know what it is yet, but Merle has some sort of idea how he could cure it. But before that, I don’t want to be apart from him. So if it is okay by you, could you to take care of getting the souls? I promise I will let you two take a vacation whenever you want, but could you just do this for me?”  
Barry looked at Lup and when Lup answered with a nod he answered with a gentle smile on his face:  
”Of course Krav. We trust you to take care of Taako, if you trust us to take care of your job. Take as much time you need”.  
”But like, remember that you owe us one. I can’t take care of your shit everytime when my bro gets a bruise. Otherwise, we would basically do everything. But I guess we can help you this time” Lup smiled and punched Kravitz gently in the arm. She had calmed down and mainly seemed to be worried about his brother now.  
”So what do we know about the cold at the moment? Merle’s spells didn’t seem to work, am I correct?” Lup asked, leaning her head on her hand.  
Angus started to feel anxious again. Lup’s and Kravitz’s conversation was just static to him, as the thoughts filled his head again. Taako’s sickness was his fault. As it was not already bad that he was practically beaten to death, now he was also sick. And it was his fault. Angus hugged his knees and started to think. Maybe he could try to help Merle find the cure. He at least knew what kind of spell it had been.  
”Angus, is everything okay?” Barry asked, placing his hand on the young boys shoulder.  
”Yeah sir. I’m just a bit tired”, he answered, faking a yawn. For his surprise Barry took his glasses, looking at the big crack in them.  
”Do you want me to fix these? I guess your eyes got already used to this, but I think it would be better if you could see the world without this big crack” he asked gently. Angus nodded. And before he could even finish his thought, Barry had already casted a repair spell on the glasses. Angus smiled and placed the glasses back on their place. And Barry was right, the world looked better.

”Thank you Magnus” Kravitz said and wiped the corner of his mouth on a napkin.  
”Don’t thank me, Lup did most of the work” Magnus laughed and slammed his hand on Lup’s shoulder. It had been a while that Angus had eaten with his family like this. The candle- lit table was filled with all kinds of goods. Merle was telling about the letter he had gotten from Davenport and Lup was asking when the old dudes were getting married with a smirk on her face. Merle just laughed, but told her that probably next spring and showed her his ring with a small white pearl on it. Barry listened as Angus told him the best parts of the latest book he had read. Angus was smiling again. It felt good to get the thoughts away from the incident for a moment. Angus was just about to tell who the killer really was, when he heard Kravitz leaving the table. He took a new plate from the counter, and filled it with food.  
”Make sure that he eats something. Hungry Taako is an angry Taako” Lup reminded and swirled her fork on the spaghetti. She had poured herself a big glass of wine that was now already half-empty.  
” I will” he said and started to walk towards the guestroom.  
Angus looked as he knocked on the door, but when there was no answer, he just stepped inside.  
” So did she kill the butler?” Barry asked curiosly. He had leaned his head on his hands, waiting an answer.

”Taako?” Kravitz whispered. Taako was laying on the bed and he had covered himself in more blankets he had found from the closet. His ear perked up when he heard his husband calling his name.  
”Darling, you need to eat something” Kravitz said as he sat down next to Taako.  
”I’m not hungry” Taako whimpered under the blankets. Kravitz sighed and placed the plate on the nightstand. He laid down next to Taako and started to gently stroke his hair. After a while of just laying there, Taako finally turned to face Kravitz. The arcane cosmetics were gone and his eyes were red. One bandage on his face had nearly fallen off, revealing a nasty looking scar on his cheek. He leaned his head on Kravitz hand and started to cry again.  
”I didn’t mean to” he whimpered as Kravitz hugged him tightly. Kravitz continued to stroke Taako’s long hair, trying to calm him down.  
”It’s okay” Kravitz hushed and kissed Taako on the forehead.  
”No it’s not!” Taako argued.  
” It would be a different thing if I had just went there and gotten myself killed. That wouldn’t have mattered. But the fact that Angus was there, and oh god he must hate me now. Oh Krav why was I…” Taako continued. As his gaze met Kravitz’s he was surprise to see two sad eyes gazing back him.  
”Yes it would have mattered. Why would you say that?” Kravitz stopped combing Taako’s hair with his fingers. For a moment both of them just stared at eachother, not saying a word.  
”Taako, you matter so much, what makes you think that you don’t?” Kravitz said. Taako turned his gaze and just stared at ceiling. He breathed heavily and tried to stop himself from crying.  
” Why do you care about me Krav? What makes me so special that you care about me? I understand that you care about Angus’s safety, but you have seen it yourself, I’m not a good person. I have done some horrible things. Why would anyone care about a horrible person” Taako asked, not turning his eyes from the ceiling. Kravitz sighed deeply and thought for a moment before he answered:  
”Because I love you” Kravitz whispered gently. His fingers started to comb Taako’s hair again, but this time he tried more to calm himself down. Taako turned his head to look at Kravitz with a small smile on his sad face. Tired wizard wrapped his arms around his husband and started to sob again.  
”Well that’s a dumb answer” Taako snickered through the sobs.  
”Well, so it’s your question” Kravitz smirked and smooched Taako on the cheeck.  
”Well I’m just a simple idiot wizard” Taako giggled teary-eyed.  
”But you are my beloved idiot wizard” Kravitz said smiling gently as Taako kissed him. 

After a while of cuddling, crying and sweet talking Kravitz finally got Taako to eat a bit. The food was already cold, but Taako quickly warmed it up with sacred flame. As he lazily swirled some spaghetti on his fork and started to eat. Kravitz started to braid his husband’s messy hair, planting small kisses on Taako’s neck.  
”Krav I’m trying to eat” Taako giggled. Kravitz just smiled and continued with the braid. When the braid was finally done, Krav leaned his head on Taako’s shoulder. Taako placed the almost empty plate on the nightstand and laid down on the bed again, followed soon by Kravitz.  
”You know, it’s kind of funny. Just like few years ago, my job was to find the weapons of mass destruction that we had made and destroy them. And our chances of surviving were not that high” Taako sighed and stared at the ceiling.  
”Yes?” Kravitz was now confused where his husband was going with this. He had calmed down, but now seemed on the verge of tears again. Kravitz quickly took Taako’s hand and held it tightly.  
”We knew that we might die. But we didn’t care. No-one did. We fought hunger knowing that the whole world’s fate was in our hands. And now, I get beaten up one time, and suddenly everyone is angry and worried. Why does everyone suddenly care?” his voice started to break as he turned to face Kravitz, burying his head to his husband's shoulder.  
”That’s not true. I cared. After our date, I knew you were going to be sent to another mission, and everyday, I was afraid that one of those souls was going to be yours. Especially when the Hunger’s tar took over my plane and I couldn’t do my job. I was so afraid that in that moment, you were going to die and i couldn’t even help you get to the astral plane safely. I was so afraid Taako, you don’t even know” the reaper said, holding Taako’s hand tighter.  
”I never want to be afraid like that again”


	7. A Guardian

Angus couldn’t sleep. He had wished everyone a good night like an hour ago, but instead of even trying to get sleep, he had gotten his notebook and started to write. He had kind of an idea of a plan, but there was still a lot to think.  
His plan was pretty simple. He would wake up early, and blame Molly for waking him up, demanding a walk. Then, Angus would the go wake up Taako and ask him to go walk with him. If Taako would say something like” Go ask Magnus” Angus would just explain that he wanted to show him something important, that could not wait. Maybe say, that he had learned a new spell. Then as they would arrived at the field, he would make sure that nobody else was there. And then what?  
Angus sharpened his pencil and started to think. How could he start it? Hi Taako guess what, I’ve actually lied to you my whole life and I’m actually a dragon haha. No, no way. What if he just turned in to his dragon form, not saying anything. That could go wrong too. He started to sketch out some scenes that might come out of it. Taako could be scared, he could run away. What if Taako attacked Angus? No, he couldn’t do it. Could he ask Taako to leave his wand home?  
Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Angus quickly hid the notebook under his pillow and blew the candle out. 

” Julia!”Magnus yelled as he woke up in a cold sweat. He could feel a single tear dripping down his cheeck. Molly raised her head as she laid next to Magnus. Magnus tried to calm himself down with petting the dogs head.  
”Sorry girl I woke you up”, Magnus whispered to the dog that licked his hand. After his breath had calmed down he carefully stood up. Merle snored behind him on the couch. He was okay and alive. Magnus quietly sneaked to the door of the guestroom. He creaked the door carefully and peaked inside. Taako and Kravitz were both asleep, holding each other tightly. They both looked happy and calm. And they were both alive. Well, as alive as the grim reaper could be. Magnus sighed of relief. He closed the door and let the happy couple sleep in peace. Lup and Barry had left back to the Astral plane, and they were grim reapers, so they would be okay. Lastly he need to check on Angus. He could hear scribbling of paper and yawning behind the door. But he still needed to check. So as lightly as he could, he knocked. 

” Angus?” Magnus whispered as he peeked in to the room. ” Are you awake?” Angus raised his head from the pillow and looked at Magnus.  
” Sorry sir, I just can’t sleep”, Angus answered and lit up the candle with his magic again.  
” It’s okay Ango. Do you want to come eat something? Like a night snack? Would that help?” Angus nodded. He grabbed his notebook with him and followed Magnus to the kitchen.  
” Are you okay Magnus?” the boy asked. It didn’t require a lot of detective work to see that he had been freaked out. His hands trembled as he spread jam on a toast and he seemed worried about every little thing.  
”Oh, just a bad dream” Magnus brushed it off and chuckled. He sat down on the chair opposite to Angus and started to munch on his toast.  
”About her?” Angus asked, not really registering what he had said. Magnus froze and bread crums dropped from his mouth. Angus finally realized what he had said.  
”I’m sorry I-I didn’t mean to…” Angus started to stutter and hanged his head down in shame. He tighten his grip on his notebook. He wouldn’t dare to look up to the man that had just relived his bride’s death, again. Magnus leaned over the table and gently patted Angus on the shoulder.  
” Hey, it’s okay. I’m used to these. They still hurt, but I know how to handle them” his voice was reassuring and warm. Angus raised his head, still feeling bad. Magnus continued to eat his toast and Angus started to draw on his notebook and eating his toast as well. For a while Magnus just listened to sounds of the house. Molly and Merle snored in perfect harmony. Taako coughed loudly on the guestroom, but before Magnus could even think of rushing in, he could hear Kravitz soft voice checking on Taako. Angus scribbled on the paper aggressively. Magnus glanced at the young boys paper.  


” Can I see?” Magnus asked carefully. Angus raised his head on the paper, glancing back and forth between the notebook and Magnus.  
” Don’t look at the other ones, They are not good” Angus said and offered his notebook to Magnus.  
” Wow when did you get this talented?” Magnus complimented the boy who blushed. On the page there was a detailed sketch of a dragon that was breathing smoke out of it’s nostrilis.  
” This is so cool! Is this a silver dragon?” Magnus asked exited.  
” Yeah, or that is what I tried to draw. I saw one in a book I read. The description was a bit short, but I tried my best” Angus lied. Of course he knew how dragons looked. Magnus was just in awe.  
” Have you shown your drawings to Lucretia? I think she would be glad to teach you painting, if you wanted to” Magnus continued.  
”Oh, I have not thought about it, but I guess that would be fun” The boy smiled, flattered by Magnus’s whispered compliments.  
”I especially love how you drew the smoke. But aren’t silver dragons ice-elemental?” Angus was impressed how much the man knew about dragons.  
” Yeah, but the frost I drew didn’t turn out good, so I just made it smoke instead. Have you ever met a dragon?” Angus asked curiosly, tapping his feet under the table.  
”Unfortunately no. I saw one once from a far, but I don’t think I have never talked to one. Or at least that I knew that I was talking to a dragon. They can shape shift, can’t they?”  
”Yeah, they can! And sometimes they can become like friends to some people. They can like, live their lives as humans but sometimes, if it’s needed they can turn in to a dragon to protect their friends or loved ones” Angus explained, getting more and more exited more he talked, but realized to tone down his voice a bit as Merle murmured something on the couch. Magnus chuckled quietly.  


” Do you think it could have been a dragon?” Angus asked, knowing the risks of his question.  
”What?”  
”The thing that saved Taako. I mean, it had to be an powerful ice-elemental, and like, not just everyone can freeze people to, you know, dead” Angus’s voice was now more careful as he said his theory out loud.  
”Well that’s a theory, I had not thought about before” Magnus laughed. ” But i don’t think that is impossible, maybe you should talk about to Merle tomorrow. But if Taako truly has a dragon as guardian he is truly a one lucky elf.”  
”Yes, he surely would” Angus blushed and took the notebook back. He scribbled the words ”guardian” on top of his drawing. A guardian. He liked that name.  
”Well, I think I’m going to sleep. Thank you for keeping me company. Helped a lot” Magnus yawned and started to walk towards living room. Angus stood up and rushed to hug Magnus.  
”Goodnight dad” Angus whispered and hugged Magnus tightly.  
”Goodnight Angus” Magnus smiled.


	8. Cure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Merle thinks he has finally a cure for Taako's weird cold. If only it had been named better...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lighter, more a bit humorous chapter this time.

Angus woke up late next morning. After couple of badly slept nights it was nice to get a good-night’s rest. He didn’t bother to change his clothes, so he decided that he could just as well march to the kitchen still wearing Magnus’s over-sized ”Rough Boy” T-shirt and shorts. Even if he could see frost on the bedroom window, the house itself was warm. Angus figured that Magnus had lit up the fireplace. A lovely, faint smell of burned wood was in the air. Angus yawned and opened the door, and almost tripped over the dog that was sleeping right behind his door. Molly wagged her tail jumped to lean on the boy. 

” Good morning Molly” Angus laughed as Molly welcomed him to the new day.   
” Good Morning Angus!” Magnus shouted from the living room. Angus followed the happy dog to the living room. The scene was not that different from yesterday. Taako laid down on the couch, under a mountain of blankets.   
”Morning pumpkin” He sniffed. His head was on Kravitz lap. Kravitz was looking over the map on the livingroom table and ran his fingers through Taako’s messy hair. Magnus was standing over the map, holding a coffee cup in his hand.   
”Not now Molly” Magnus whispered as the dog started to beg treats. Disapointed, the dog laid down next to the man’s feet.   
” I made you pancakes, I can warm them up to you, if you don’t want to eat them cold”, Taako coughed.  
” No worries, I can warm them up myself ” Angus reassured. He didn’t want to bother Taako. After warming up the blueberry pancake he joined the others in the living room. He sat down on the floor, next to the fireplace, where Magnus had just thrown more wood.   
”Angus I know that you probably don’t want to talk about it but, do you have any kind of memories of the specific jerks that made a fatal mistake of beating my husband?” Kravitz asked, cricling a town on the map. Taako snickered quietly. Kravitz was talking with his accent again.   
” I’m sorry sir, but I think I don’t really remember anything” Angus answered. ” I remember that there were at least three people there”. Kravitz nodded.   
” Do we know what happened to the iceguy?” Magnus wondered. Angus had not even thought about it. Had the police just left the body there?  
” I took care of it” Kravitz sharply answered, not lifting his eyes from the map.  
” Well, that’s good” Magnus hummed, not asking further questions. Molly trotted over next to Angus and sat down next to him. The boy started to pet the dog’s rough fur.   
”Sorry Molly, but this is mine” Angus said and ate the last piece of his pancake as the dog looked at him with beggar’s eyes. Molly wagged her tail, still waiting for something good.   
”By the way, where is Merle?” Angus asked.   
” Oh he is in the study. I suggested your dragon theory to him, and I think that he now has some sort of idea of what could cure Taako’s flu. If you are going there, take a cup of coffee with you. I think would appreciate it” Magnus explained, and continued to talk about their plan with Kravitz. Molly followed Angus as the boy grabbed the coffee from the table and started his way towards the study room. 

”Morning Merle” Angus said as he stepped in to the room.  
”Don’t let the dog in” Merle grunted. Angus closed the door behind him, shaking his head to Molly. Merle was sitting on the floor cross legged. In front of him there was a pile of books, papers and a small flowerpot.  
”I brought you coffee” Angus offered the cup to Merle and sat next to him.  
”Thanks kid” Merle murmured and turned the page on the book and took a long sip of coffee.  
”Angus I know you are a smart kid, but where did you get the idea that it could have been a dragon?” Merle asked amused. Angus thought for a moment before he answered.  
”I read a book about them a while ago”. Merle nodded.  
”That actually helped a lot. I mean I don’t think it was a dragon but maybe a similar creature. All Taako’s symptoms like the constant hypothermia, would point to a dragon-like creature. So, thanks kid” Merle explained. Angus got a bit flustered. It was unusual for Merle to compliment him without any sarcasm.   
After a while of flippping throught the pages, he motioned Angus to come closer. He pointed at the small red flower on the page.  
”This is what we need. If only it had been named better” the cleric laughed. Angus looked at page and snickered a bit.  
”Blazeweed? The thing that is going to save Taako is named blazeweed?”   
”Yup! If we make tea of it and get him to drink it, it should cure him. It was used earlier by powerful firehealers in the ancient times. And it seems that those firehealers were pretty damn high when they named it” Merle laughed.   
”So where can we find it?” Angus asked curiously. The book seemed really old, and the pages were worn out.   
”We don’t need to go some epic guest or something. I think Pan will help us. Want to pray with me?” Merle asked and placed the flowerpot in front of them.   
”Sure” Angus said. The cleric took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he presented his holy symbol. Angus crossed his fingers and closed his eyes, and repeated Merle’s words quietly in his mind. 

”Dear father Pan, we hope you can hear our prayer. Our dear friend has fallen ill, and we hope you can help us curing him. We only wish for one small flower. If your all-mightiness could provide this to us we would be forever grateful for you. And by the way, say hello to Istus for us. Amen” The way Merle prayed was calm and relaxed. After their prayer was over, Angus opened his eyes. It was like a small flame had lit up in the flowerpot. Out of the flame spurted a small, brightly red flower. Merle laughed:  
”Thanks Pan!”

”What’s this?” Taako asked amused. Merle had just slammed the teacup in front of him. It was full of orange, hot and clear liquid with some reddish leaves swirling in it.  
”The thing that is going to cure you” Merle assured. ”It’s called blazeweed and…”  
”Wait, wait, my good dude. Balzeweed?” Taako snickered and looked Merle in awe. Kravitz tried to keep a straight face, but that didn’t quiet work. Magnus just started to laugh.  
”Yes yes I know, but I didn’t name it” Merle tried to explain, but his voice was drowned in Taako’s howling laughter. Kravitz also chuckled in to Taako’s shoulder. Magnus laughed loudly and slammed his hand to the table. Angus also giggled.   
”Pan, you all are childish. Taako you have a fucking spell called Evard’s black tentacles! I didn’t even name this!” Merle tried to yell over the laughter. Taako’s laughter quickly turned in to coughs as he tried to get some air. He was crying of laughter. Molly jumped around Magnus and barked loudly, trying take part in the laughter  
This was what Angus had missed. Just his family and him, laughing about something stupid.   
The laughter however died down a bit when Kravitz noticed that Taako was actually coughing up some blood. Kravitz quickly took out a napkin and wiped his husband's mouth, and made sure that he was okay. Taako reassured him that he was fine. 

” So, if we are now done with laughing, could please drink the tea? It’ll hurt like hell and taste like shit, but it’ll make you feel better. Better try to get it down in one gulp”, Merle said. Taako shuregged.  
”You know that everything I drink can only taste like go-gurt”, he said and raised the tea cup to his lips. But as soon as he took the first gulp, he slammed the cup down.  
”Oh fuck it burns!” Taakos yelled.   
”I warned you. The quicker you drink it, the quicker it’s over” Merle laughed and walked to kitchen. Taako mumbled something about how the plant could go fuck himself and gulped down the rest of the tea. Angus could swear that he saw some flames rise from Taako’s mouth as he tried to cool down his mouth.   
”Tell me that I at least can get high of this?” Taako coughed and wiped a tear from his cheek.   
”Not really high. It’ll just burn for a bit, and then you will probably feel a bit nauseous ” Merle laughed over from kitchen.   
”Fuck! Magnus, do you have any ice cream?” Taako asked frustrated.


	9. Late night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magnus's and Kravit's leave for their revenge trip, leaving Taako, Angus and Merle with the dog.

The day had been slow. Everyone had mainly spent their day relaxing and spending time with each other. Taako had mainly slept on Kravitz’s lap, once or twice complaining about how he thought he would get a better high from blazeweed, not just the constant feeling of burning in his throat. Angus had spend his day scripting possible outcomes of tomorrow morning. He knew that Kravitz and Magnus would probably take their time on their little revenge trip, and Merle was a heavy sleeper, so it would be possible to get Taako outside in the morning without anyone else noticing. 

”How are you feeling Taako? Are you sure that you will be fine staying here?”, Kravitz asked and gave a small kiss to Taako. Magnus was already in the hallway, tying the laces on his boots. He had strapped the Railsplitter to his back. It had been a while that Angus had seen Magnus ready to battle. After the Hunger their life had been pretty peaceful and the battleaxe had gotten a small vacation. Molly was trotting around Magnus with a leash on her mouth. Angus called the dog that walked over to the small boy, waving her tail eagerly. Angus just asked it to lay down beside him, as continued reading the novel in his hands.   
”Yeah yeah love. I’ll be fine. I think that for once Merle actually healed me properly”, Taako laughed and hugged Kravitz tightly.   
”You know you would be dead without me” Merle muttered, burying his head deeper in to the newest issue of Neverwinter Times.  
”I know this and I appreciate your efforts” Taako answered over his shoulder. Merle just laughed quietly.   
”Can I trust you two that you take of Taako?” Kravitz asked as he summoned his scythe.  
”You can sir. We’ll make sure that he will be fine, so no need to worry” Angus raised his eyes from the book and smiled at Kravitz. Kravitz smiled back and ruffled Angus’s hair.   
”And sorry to inform you mister grim reaper, but stones of far speech have been a thing for a while. We’ll call if something is wrong”, Merle grunted. ” But bonehead remember that Magnus is not immortal or anything, so if we promise to take care of Taako, you’ll take care of Mags. Deal?”  
”Deal” Kravitz said. Magnus chuckled in the background.  
”You know that it’s literally just a gang of gamblers that just like to beat up folk? I’ve faced far worse things and usually I have been the one that’s taken care of them” Magnus laughed. Merle folded the newspaper and leaned back on the armchair.   
”I know I know. But still you two, take care of yourselves. Take some potions with you if you can” the cleric smiled.   
”Yeah. You and Mango can just concentrate on kicking some butt, I’ll be fine”, Taako smirked and pulled Kravitz from his necktie for one more kiss. The kiss lasted a maybe a bit longer than Kravitz had expected, but he really didn’t mind. He trusted that his husband would be fine  
”We’ll be back tomorrow. Try to get some sleep, all three of you. Oh and Merle, if you can, please take Molly out for walk will you? She will sleep longer if she has gotten to run a bit, so you all don’t need to wake up early to her barking in to your ears” Magnus said and waved his hand. Merle raised his thumb and nodded. And so Kravitz opened a rift with his scythe and took Magnus’s hand as they stepped through through it. Angus waved at them and watched closely as the rift started to close. He had to hold Molly from her pink collar, so that she wouldn’t have run after them. After the rift had disappeared, Angus let the dog go. She sniffed the place where the rift had opened and barked at it a couple times. 

”Sometimes I wonder what that dog is trying to say. You can talk to animals, can’t you Taako?” Merle wondered. The elf chuckled and chirped something. Molly instantly started to bark at him. Taako continued chirping at the dog that barked in disbelief.  
”What are you saying to it?” Angus laughed, putting the novel down.   
”I’m saying ”You can never catch me you stupid dog” in chipmunk”, Taako smirked.   
”Oh, come on, don’t be mean to Molly”, Angus laughed. Taako rolled his eyes and petted the dogs head. Finally he barked something. Merle was laughing just at concept of Taako, sitting on couch, barking to a puppy.   
”So what are you two talking about now?” Angus asked. Molly was now wagging her tail and leaning her head happily on Taako’s hand.   
”I’m saying that his dad is going to come home soon” Taako smiled. 

”Angus, I heard from Magnus that you have a bad habit of staying up too late, so maybe you should try sleeping this night? And you too Taako. Kravitz will kill me even faster if he finds out that you stayed up all night” Merle shouted as Molly tugged on the leash.   
”Yeah yeah, enjoy your walk!” Taako shouted. As the door closed, Angus could hear Merle calling Davenport.   
”Well you heard the old man, off to the bed you go” Taako yawned, starting to gather his blankets from the couch.   
”One more chapter sir?” Angus pleaded, looking Taako with those puppy-dog eyes. Taako groaned, but smiled.  
” Okay, I’ll make us something to eat. But after we are done eating, you will go to your bed and if I see any lights on, I will cast sleep on you and make sure that you sleep through the next two days” Taako snickered. Angus nodded.  
”Also stop calling me sir. We are a family Ango” Taako reminded.   
”Sorry, old habit” Angus hummed. He leaned his back on the wall of the fireplace. The fire had burned itself out a while ago, but the wall was still warm. Just hot enough that it was comfertable to lean against it. The boy yawned and turned a page. 

”Nightsnack time!” Taako shouted, waking Angus up. The book fell to the ground as the boy looked around confused. He had meant to only close his eyes for a moment. He quickly gripped his book and sat down to table. Taako handed him a bowl full of yogurt, with some fruits and berries on top of it, forming a smiley face. Angus chuckled and started to eat. Taako himself took a big bit of an apple. He looked outside of the large window.  
”Is, everything okay Taako?” Angus asked. He had noticed how Taako’s right ear had started to twitch.  
”Hmm? Oh yeah everything is fine” the elf hummed, taking another bite. Angus sighed.  
”Please don’t lie to me sir”. Taako looked at Angus a bit suprised. After looking around he chuckled.  
”It was the ear again, was it?” Taako laughed, noticing now his twitching ear. Angus nodded. Taako took a deep breath.  
”I guess that, I’m sorry Angus. I promised to Magnus after the Hunger incident that I would never let you get hurt or anything like that… ”, Taako started.  
”Taako, it’s oka..”  
”No it’s not. I’m just so afraid that something will happen to you and I couldn’t even protect you! We got saved by some goodhearted stranger. And those are a rare thing. And what if something had happened to you, if I had not died myself Magnus had probably killed me. Angus I’m just sorry” Taako said, nearly crying. There was sincerity in his voice, not even a hint of sarcasm. Angus got worried and quickly stood up, walking over to Taako.   
”Taako, remember what I said yesterday morning? I have forgiven you and everything is fine. You need to believe me” the boy said and hugged the elf tightly. Taako wrapped his arms around Angus and sniffed.  
”Okay”, Taako whispered chuckling, wiping his face with his other hand. Angus didn’t want to let go. He needed to know that Taako was safe. The elf hummed, trying to calm himself and ruffled the boy’s hair gently. For a moment the two stayed there, just embracing each other. Both of them knew that in the nightmare scenario, both of them could be dead. But this was not that scenario. Yes both of them were still pretty freaked out, but they knew that they were safe now. 

”If you ever tell anyone that you made me cry, I will tell all your cool friends how I once made you believe that Magnus had actually eaten your nose” Taako grinned.   
”It’s a deal” Angus laughed, hugging the elf even tighter. Taako purred for a moment, before raising his head and slowly walking to the window.   
”Look Angus” The wizard sniffed happily, turning his face to face Angus who was still standing next to the table.  
”It’s starting to snow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a small question for the readers. For next chapter would you like to hear the last chapter of this whole fic, or a small side chapter about Magnus's and Kravitz's revengetrip?


	10. The Beast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kravitz and Magnus try to find more about what really happened in that cold night

Kravitz stared down at the fancy half-elf who was trying to scurry away from him. Even the dim-lit room, Magnus could see how afraid the man was. There was sweat on his brow and his face was just horryfied.  
”Where do you think you are going?”, he calmly asked, placing his scythe on the neck that was covered in heavy jewelry. The man turned and just stared at Kravitz with eyes filled with fear. Magnus gently patted the grim reaper on the back, smiling happily.  
”Now now, we don’t want to kill anybody, we are just here to talk some things out”, Magnus explained with a calm voice, squatting next to the half-elf.  
”What do you want?” the man whispered, not letting his eyes gaze away from Kravitz’s reaper form, legs shaking in fear.  
” So we may have heard some stories that your little gang is pretty good at, I don’t know… beating people up? Maybe sometimes killing some folk, am I right?”, Magnus smiled, shrugging his shoulders. The man nodded, shaking.  
” Well, let’s just say that our friend might have or might have not been beaten up by some of your little gang’s members, and we would really gladly know, who they were, and what happened” Magnus smiled. The man’s gaze switched back and forth between the gently smiling fighter and the grim reaper himself.  
”If I tell you, you promise that you won’t kill me?” the half-elf stuttered. Magnus glanced at Kravitz raising his eyebrows. Kravitz slowly withdrew his scythe from the the man’s neck. 

”What’s your name?” Kravitz asked, sending shivers down the half-elf’s neck. His flesh face started to materialize again.  
”Jona” the man whispered.  
” Jona” Kravitz whispered, wrapping his fingers on the jewelry around Jona’s neck. The half-elf shivered as the cold hands of death brushed against his neck.  
”Jona, if you ever again try to harm another charming, loved being, you can be sure, that I’ll make sure that the Raven Queen makes your due-date come a lot faster than you ever wanted to. Do you understand, Jona?” Kravitz said, tugging on the necklace, making Jona whimper an answer.  
”Yes sir, I understand. But I didn’t do anything! I was just doing what the boss asked me to. If I had know that he was your husb” Jona’s words were cut off by another tug on his necklace.  
”The death doesn’t care if you meant it or not” Kravitz whispered. Magnus placed his hand on Kravitz’s shoulder again.  
”I think you scared him enough already.” Kravitz let go of the necklace and Jona took in a sharp breath.  
”Now Jona, please tell us what happened” Magnus smirked. 

” Okay, so I’m pretty new here so I don’t really have any saying in what jobs I get to do. I was supposed to be there just to make sure that nobody saw what was happening. I- I really didn’t know what your husband had done, but the boss was angry, so we did what we had been ordered. So there where four of us. Me and Leo were on the lookout, while Ari and the boss would um… take care of your husband” Jona chuckled nervously, as Kravitz was fidgeting his fingers around his scythe.  
”Go on” the grim reaper nodded. Jona swallowed dryly and continued:  
”But then there was the kid. I swear we didn’t want to hurt him and we had not considered that he would have company in our plan. So, Leo ran to keep him out of the way, leaving me alone on the lookout, which was okay by me, so I just looked away. But then suddenly I just felt this really fucking cold breeze and just heard the kid screaming. I turned around and there was this beast, that…”  
”A beast?” Magnus chuckled. Jona looked at him with a serious face.  
” I really don’t know what else to call it. the scene was pretty hectic, I don’t have the clearest picture in mind, but it killed boss. It froze him alive. As soon as I saw the boss’s frozen body and that creatures cold, bright eyes, I just ran. I ran as fast as I could. But before I got out of the alley, it caught me. And it just, stared at me. It looked kind of scared but, I was too scared to concentrate on that. It pinned me to the ice covered ground and blew some cold in my face, kinda like warning, but it did let me go!” Jona told, still feeling the chill in his spine.  
”And your friends, did they survive?” Magnus asked, raising a brow. Jona looked at his feet and started to scratch his flicking ear.  
”Yeah, barely. Leo got the worst hit, after the boss of course. The thing I guess attacked him with just brute force. His arm broke and he got pretty nasty gashes in his chest. Ari had to carry him away from there, but he got hit too, lost an eye to the Beast’s claws. But the weirdest thing was that when we started to scurry away from it just let us escape. It just stared at us and we ran for our lives. The worst part was the aftermath. Leo had the worst ones. His scars started to turn in to this painful frostbites. Ari’s eye hole just started to grow ice and I’m still cold. No matter how much I put on clothes, no matter how much I just try to make myself warm, only thing I feel is coldness. There is nothing I can do about it, and it hurts ”  
Magnus looked at Kravitz a bit amused. Kravitz just stared down at Jona, wondering, did the youngster deserve to learn about the cure. He decided that he was not worth it. 

” And the boy? And what happened to my husband?” Kravitz coldly asked. Jona huddled his knees to his chest and Magnus could see tears welling up on his eyes.  
”Sir, I just ran. At that moment I could not care less about your husband or the kid. I didn’t want to die” Jona whispered. Kravitz’s ears twitched and he tightened his grip on the scythe. With his last efforts, Jona raised his hands to his face, and just started to wait for the swing.  
”I think that’s enough. Thank you for telling your story Jona. One more thing, can you please tell me where we could find this Ari you were talking about?” Magnus asked and slammed his hand on the small man’s shoulder, making Jona take in a sharp, panicked breath, as the whole time, he was excpeting the two to kill him.  
”I-I can give you his address…but please don’t hurt him. He is all I have here” Jona begged, grabbing on the helm of Magnus’s shirt. Kravitz just smiled gently.  
”Well if we would hurt him, then you would know just how I felt, wouldn’t you?” Kravitz said, pulling up the hood of his cloak, as he started to leave. Jona just stared blankly at him, feeling his heart rate rising. He quickly wrote down address on a small piece of paper Magnus had offered him.  
”Please, don’t hurt him” Jona wept as he gave the paper back to Magnus with shaking hands. 

Kravitz was standing on the porch as Magnus finally left Jona alone.  
” I think there is still more to this story that we don’t know. This could take whole night” Magnus yawned, giving the address to Kravitz who started to open a rift.  
”Were you really going to kill that kid?” Magnus asked, taking Kravitz’s hand as the stepped in to the rift. Kravitz chuckled.  
”As you said, I think I scared him enough that he won’t do that again, and if he will, he knows what is coming”.  
”So do we go there with a same routine? You put on your skull face and I’ll swing the Railsplitter?” Magnus smirked as he felt the ground beneath his feet again. Kravitz nodded revealing his skull face behind his cloak’s hood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took a while, but the next chapter will be the final one, and it'll probably also take some time, since I really want to put some effort to the finale. I'm so happy of all the support I've been given while writing this, and I'm so grateful. Thank you!


	11. Truthteller

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angus decides to finally go through with his plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While reading the final chapter of this fic, I'd like you to listen to this lovely track called "Cold Frozen Moon", which actually inspired this whole fic in general.   
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqBRkkVa3pI

Angus stared as the snow slowly fell from the sky. He held his notebook close to his chest, and took a deep breath. The nervous boy opened his notebook with shaking hands and opened the page where he had drawn the dragon. Later he had highlighted the word ”Guardian” he had scribbled on the page. Looking at the word gave him enough power to close the notebook and put on his coat. He hid the notebook under his pillow and with reluctant steps, walked out of the room.

”This is it”, Angus quietly whispered to himself.

 

Merle was sleeping on the couch, hugging his pillow tightly. Molly was napping on Magnus’s mattress, but raised her grey head as Angus sneaked around the house. He rehearsed one more time in his head what he was going to say. Everything was going to be fine. Taako would understand.  
Angus tried his best to open the door as quietly as he could. It let out a small creak, but it didn’t seem to bother Merle. Molly however stood up and yawned, before trotting to Agnus. The boy calmly petted her head, to wish her good morning and to calm himself down. The dog leaned in to the touch, and followed right by the young boy’s side as he stepped in to the guest room.

Taako had wrapped himself tightly in blankets, his head resting on Kravitz’s pillow. He took in deep, relaxed breaths murmuring something in his sleep that almost sounded like Kravitz’s name. Angus felt bad as he lightly poked the Taako’s cheek, the one that was not bandaged up.  
”Taako?” Angus’s voice was barely a whisper. The elf’s ear did a small, rapid twitch, but Taako didn’t wake up. Holding his breath Angus put his hands on Taako’s shoulders and shook gently.  
”Taako, wake up.” His voice was still a whisper but a bit louder. Taako’s eyes opened slightly.  
”What is it, Merle?” he murmured closing his eyes again. Angus gulped. He had rehearsed this scene countless times in his mind.

”It’s me, Angus. Taako, I need to show you something.”  
”Can’t it wait a bit? It’s still sleepy time in Taako  
Town”, the elf yawned, burying his head deeper into the pillow.  
”Sir, this is important!” Angus said, a bit louder than he had meant to. Taako raised his head slowly from the pillows, messy, blond and pink curls framing his face.  
”Angus, what did I say about calling me…”  
”Taako, please, just listen to me!” Angus grunted, a bit frustrated. Then he felt it. A small tingly sensation on his fingers as the silvery scales started to appear, slowly but surely. He quickly hid his fingers in Molly’s fur, scratching the back of her neck. Taako’s ears flopped down.  
”What’s wrong, pumpkin?” A soft voice asked. Angus barely heard it. He was too concentrated on making the scales disappear.  
”Angus. What did you want to tell me?” Taako asked with a stern voice, cupping one of Angus’s cheeks with his hand, before quickly redrawing it. The boy’s cheeks were almost too cold to touch. Worried, Taako tried to touch Angus’s forehead with the back of his his palm, but the boy stepped out of his reach.  
”Angus, what’s wrong?! Do you have the… We can ask Merle to grow more of that plant, we’ll get you back in shape. Why didn’t you tell us you…” Taako fumbled over his words.  
”Taako, I’m okay! But I need you to listen to me!” Angus said calmly. This was not going according to his plan. Taako was already freaking out and so was he. He could even feel Molly’s muscles tensing under his fingers.  
Taako looked at the young boy worried. Too many questions ran through his head. He was afraid. He didn’t like the feeling of not knowing what was going on. But he trusted Angus. And Angus always spoke the truth, so taking in a shaky breath, he finally answered.  
”What do you want?”  
Angus gulped down the lump in his throat and relaxed his shoulders. Everything was now going according to the script again.  
”I want to show you something. But…I need to show it outside” Angus sighed, quickly glancing at his hand. It was a normal human hand again. Taako raised his brow, both from worry and from curiosity.  
”Okay.” Angus blinked in surprise. ”Where are we going, Ango?” Taako asked, reaching for his sweatpants from the floor.  
”To the meadow. It’s not far away”, Angus answered as he left the room, giving Taako the privacy to dress up and to get Molly’s leash. He just felt safe knowing that at least if Taako got scared, he wouldn’t be alone. Angus clipped the end of the leash on to the ring on Molly’s collar. The dog wagged her tail excited as she licked Angus’s cheek. A small  
smile crept on the boy’s face as he sat down on the entrance mat, Molly sitting  
obediently next to him. The dog’s tail drew small circles in to the mat as they  
waited for Taako.

Finally, after what felt like an hour, Taako stepped out of the room. His right leg was still limping a bit from the accident, but using his umbrella as a walking cane helped. He was wearing a long, grey coat that was a bit too big for him. Angus figured he had stolen it from Kravitz.  
”So, ready to show me your surprise?” Taako smiled. He was not fooling Angus. There still was that tremble of worry in his voice. Angus stood up nodding and opened the door. He could still hear Merle snoring on the sofa. He wondered if he had even noticed anything. Taako had his Stone of Far Speech with him, but Angus had left his on his nightstand, keeping up the tradition.  
”What about Merle?” the elf asked glancing over to the snoring figure on the couch.  
”Later. I want to show you first.”

Angus smiled when he felt the cold north wind blowing on his face. Taako was not that pleased with the weather, even the cloud of fog raising from his mouth only reminded him of wonderland. But the sunrise looked beautiful at least. A pinkish sky colored the snow with its hue, making everything look all glittery and pink. The thin layer of frost and snow scrunched under their feet as they kept walking. Instead of her usual manner, Molly trotted slowly beside Angus, not pulling the leash. A puff of fog raised of the dog’s mouth too, making Taako even more worried about the fact that Angus didn’t seem to leave even the smallest of puffs. Taako just tried to convince himself that the boy was probably just so excited that he didn’t dare to breath. Not because the boy was ice cold on the inside.  
”It’s beautiful”, Taako whispered to calm his nerves. Angus nodded, staring straight ahead. Taako glanced over to the small boy. He looked scared, like he was waiting for something bad to happen. His steps were quick, but Taako could easily keep up with him with his umbrella. Even the dog seemed a bit anxious, its tail wagging slowly and ears not quite perked up.

The road to the meadow felt longer this time, but Angus knew that sooner or later they would get there. Taako walked a couple of steps behind him, sometimes commenting something small, like ”Are you sure you’re not cold?” or ”Is this the right way?” Angus just nodded to each question, maybe sometimes humming a small answer like ”Don’t worry.” And he was right. There was nothing to worry about. Everything was going according to his script. Just a couple more scenes and then the big finale and after that… something. Angus just hoped that the play would have a happy ending.

The relief Angus felt when he finally saw the frost-covered meadow before him was a bit unexpected. He smiled widely, even laughing a bit, before running down to the tree he had sat under the last time he was visiting. Taako followed, looking around himself and running his fingers through his hair.  
”So, why did you bring me here?” Taako asked when Angus gave Molly’s leash to Taako. He wrapped the glittering leash around his wrist a couple of times. Angus put his glasses inside of his hat and handed that to Taako, before taking a couple of steps back.  
”Taako, I want to show you something.”  
”Yeah, you’ve said that already. You’ve done a very good job building up the tension and stuff, but can we just get to the show now?” Taako commented, fingers still tangling in his hair, balancing Angus hat in his other hand.  
”Promise you won’t be scared?” Angus said, staring straight into Taako’s eyes. The question catched the elf off guard, his right ear twitching violently. He took a small breath, and then a bigger one.  
”I promise. I mean, what are you trying to show me? Some sort of monster pet you’ve been hiding? I promise Magnus has shown me enough of those already”, Taako laughed nervously.  
”I just want you to know that… that there is nothing to be scared of. And if something goes wrong, Molly will protect you.” Angus smiled before gulping. He threw his jacket under the tree, now standing in the middle of the frosted field only in his t-shirt and jeans. Taako tried to protest, but the boy didn’t even blink. Angus felt anxious about seeing Taako’s face only as a smudge, but he didn’t want to break his glasses again.  
”Taako, are you ready?” Angus asked for the final time, trying to keep his voice sure and comforting. Taako could see the small boy trembling a bit, but he figured it was just the cold winds swirling around them.  
”I guess… Show your trick so we can go and make breakfast”, Taako laughed, holding Angus’s hat close to his chest. He was confused about the whole situation. Confused and worried.  
”Okay. Don’t look away now.”

Angus took a deep breath. As he let the breath out of his lungs, Taako could see that it was not steam. Instead, the boy let an icy cloud slowly drift away from his mouth. Taako already wanted to run to Angus, wrap him in his jacket and take him to Merle. But as Taako tried to take hurried step closer, Angus raised his hand to stop him. And as soon as he did, the scales started to appear. They appeared way faster now, Angus’s hand getting devoured by icy scales in seconds.  
”Ango…” Taako whispered, raising his hand to his mouth. Angus just nodded with an unsure smile, before huffing out a large cloud of frost, making it hard for Taako to see Angus’s form. Molly was now going crazy, tugging the leash away from the cloud, but Taako stood still. Feeling a strong yank on his hand, he fell down, as Molly started to run. With a quick spell, Taako untied the leash around his wrist and without thinking that much, he let the dog go. He quickly got up on his feet again, leaning heavily on his Umbrastaff for balance. Fear and confusion filled his mind as he started to cry out Angus’s name. He couldn’t see the boy anywhere. Instead in front of him stood something, that stared down at him. He gripped the Umbrastaff tighter as the creature took a careful step forward. The air around it was cold, making Taako shiver even more.

”Wha- what the fuck…” Taako whispered, barely standing on his shaking legs as the creature leaned its head closer. Taako could now identify the creature as a dragon. A fucking dragon. It was not fully grown yet, but still. A long frill on its head shined in the morning light. Taako pointed the tip of the Umbrastaff right between its eyes.  
”Where is Ango?! What did you do!?” Taako shivered. The dragon let out a small whimper, before opening its mouth, letting out a bit of frost again.  
”I said there is nothing to be afraid.”  
The elf dropped the umbrella from his hands. The dragon’s voice was gentle, and familiar.  
”A-Ango?” Taako whimpered, as the dragon’s form started to shift again. Its wings shattered to snowflakes and its scales dropped off of its skin, covering the meadow in small ice shards, leaving behind only a form of a small, trembling boy.

Taako noticed that he had probably forgotten to breathe as he fell to his knees with a small thud. Angus was sitting on the ground before him, looking at Taako worried. Last of the scales dropped off from his cheeks as tears started to fall.

”So… a dragon, huh?” Taako huffed, still trying to process things. Angus nodded, wiping his cheek with a small smile on his face.  
”And that wasn’t an illusion or anything… you really…” Taako asked, moving a bit closer to Angus.  
”I’m sorry… I should have told you sooner”, Angus wept. His eyes filled with tears of relief. All the years of sneaking out on winter nights, all the times trying to come up with reasons why he collected silvers. All those late nights hiding in the bathroom and trying to calm his nerves just by letting some scales grow back and fearing that someone would find him, and waiting in his bedroom after a nightmare for his temperature to rise again so Magnus wouldn’t ask any questions if he climbed to his bed to sleep next to him.  
”I’m so sorry”, he cried and threw his hands around Taako’s warm shoulders.  
”Hey little man, everything is okay. Cha boy just needs some time to process things.” Taako nuzzled Angus’s hair, wrapping the small boy in his large jacket.

”So that night in the alleyway… it was you? Not some kind-haerted stranger?” the elf whispered.  
”Yeah. As you said. Those are rare”, Angus answered, leaning his head on Taako’s chest, listening to his now normal heartbeat.  
”And now I realize why your dragon theory made so much sense.”  
”Merle still didn’t believe that it could have been a dragon.”  
”I figured. Are you planning to tell them too?” Taako asked petting Angus’s hair. He still took in ragged, frosty breaths, but mostly the boy seemed to be okay.  
”I don’t know… I think that they would find out one way or another”, Angus sighed.  
”Well, you’ve kept this as a secret for so long already. But yeah, I think I’m the bigger risk here. If Kravitz would ask me anything I… I wouldn’t be able to lie to him. But maybe we’ll just tell them. Show them the scale trick?” Taako whispered, slowly reaching for Angus’s jacket.  
”Yeah, I might have gone a bit overboard with that, I’m sorry. But I had just been planning this for so long and…” Taako’s warm hands cupped Angus’s cheeks again.  
”Hey, at least I know you learned some drama skills from me”, Taako laughed, pulling the boy in one more tight hug.

Angus wiped his glasses one more time and pulled his jacket from the ground. He could feel his temperature rising again and the cold wind didn’t feel so nice anymore.  
”Where is Molly?” Angus asked, wrapping Taako’s scarf around his neck.  
”Oh shit, the dog!” the elf gasped. Angus quickly started to follow the paw prints in the snow, calling the dog’s name every now and then. Soon his calls were answered by quiet whimpers when Angus found the dog, her leash wrapped around a branch.

”Hey girl, everything is okay”, the boy smiled and unwrapped the leash gently, petting the anxious dog’s head. The dog carefully licked the boy’s hand.

”You found her?” Taako asked behind him, as Angus struggled with the leash. Angus nodded pulling the puppy out of the bush.  
”I’m sorry if I scared you too much. I didn’t mean to”, Angus whispered to the dog and hugged it, scratching the back of her ear.

The way back to Magnus’s home was much more pleasant. Angus laughed about how Taako had ignored all the obvious stuff for so long and Taako asked some unimportant details.  
”So do you need to like, get your wings out like at the night of full moon or something?” the elf wondered, purposefully stepping in to a small frozen puddle, breaking the ice with his heel.  
”Not quite. It feels good to be in my dragon form, fly around and such, but…I prefer living as a human much more. Beings like you and Da… Magnus are so much more…kinder. Warmer. It feels better”, the boy laughed. ” As long as I get my wings out for like ten minutes a month, I’ll be good.”

”Okay”, Taako smiled as they arrived at the house. Molly’s tail instantly started to whip around when she smelled that his dad was home. Magnus’s boots were right in front of the door on the welcome mat. Angus couldn’t smell any blood, so he figured that the night had gone without bigger losses.  
”We’re home!” Taako shouted, getting almost immediately grabbed into Kravitz’s tight embrace. Taako wrapped his arms around his husband.  
”Oh, thanks for taking my girl for a walk. It’s nice outside”, Magnus laughed when the dog jumped on to his lap while he was sitting on the couch.

”So, what did you goofers find out?” the elf playfully asked, winking his eye to Angus, who had just taken off his shoes.  
”I don’t think you would believe me”, Kravitz whispered, smiling widely.  
”C’moon you can’t be sure!” Taako snickered. Kravitz almost waltzed to the living room with Taako, Angus following close behind. Merle was boiling eggs, standing up on the stool so he could reach to the stove.  
”Oh, everyone’s back?” the dwarf yawned. Kravitz laid down on the couch, only for the elf jump up to curl on top of him. Magnus tried to get Molly to calm down and tried his best not to spill any coffee to the rug as the dog tried to lick his face. Angus took his usual place near the fireplace.

”So, how did it go?” Taako asked, booping Kravitz’s nose with his own. A frustrated sigh escaped Kravitz’s lips as he looked at Magnus for reassurance.  
”Well. Let’s just say that we now have some theories. We got some information out of them but… nothing useful, really. Good thing is that your husband made sure they probably aren’t going to beat up anyone anytime soon”, Magnus laughed.  
”Poor half-elf, honestly. You should have seen him. I think I traumatized him”, Kravitz chuckled, Jona’s face flashing in his mind. Taako quickly glanced at Angus and winked with a smirk on his face.  
”Do your theories include an icy beast?” Taako enjoyed watching the smile on Kravitz’s face drop as it was replaced with a confused look.  
”How…” Kravitz muttered as Taako kissed his forehead playfully. Magnus had already leaned in closer.

”Let’s just say that me and Ango have an theory of our own. Wanna tell them, pumpkin?” he asked, flashing Angus an encouraging smile. The boy stood up and took a deep breath before stepping closer to the adults. His family. The people that he knew would take care of him no matter what. And the people who would let him take care of them.

”I have something I want to tell to you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, it's done. My first multi-chapter fic.   
> Now that I read the first chapters, I honestly feel a bit ashamed, there are so many things I could probably do better now, but I've decided to let them be.   
> This fic was originally going to be only two chapters, but I guess got excited. I didn't really have a script, I just had the first scene and the end in my mind. Everything in the middle was a mystery.   
> I don't know if I can say that I'm proud of this fic, but at least I can say that I'm proud that I actually finished it, even if it took a while. 
> 
> I want to thank my dear friend Mars (fallustoro.tumblr.com) for pretty much everything. He helped me by proofreading, gave me motivation and ideas and was just all around the one that supported me through this journey. 
> 
> And I can't thank you enough, you readers. Every comment, every kudos, bookmark, you don't know how much you helped me. Once again, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the story.


End file.
